Traction-engine or road-roller



(No Model.)

M. liL-HERSHEY. TRACTION ENGINE 0R ROAD ROLLER.

No. 444,980. Patented Jan. 20, 1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN E. HERSHEY, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRACTION-ENGINE OR ROAD ROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444,980, dated January 20, 1891.

Application filed June 30, 1890x a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

In a prior patent granted to me January 3, 1888, No. 375,815, I described and claimed a novel form of tank and fuel-box arrangement for road-rollers or traction-engines, and the present arrangement is designed as an improvcment upon the structure disclosed in said patent, the objects being to provide a machine of the character indicated, in which the tank and fuel-boxes are brought in close to the main axle, thereby leaving the space in rear of the drivers practically clear and unobstructed, enabling the engineer to see exactly which portion of the roadway will be rolled, and at the same time permitting the machine to turn short angles in close proximity to trees, tree-boxes, curbs, or other obstructions without danger of striking the tank or fuel-boxes. The important and very desirable feature of leaving a free and unobstructed passage-way for the engineer, as fully. set forth in my said patent, being also maintained without sacrificing tank capacity to any material degree.

The invention therefore consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the rear portion of a road-roller constructed in accordance with my invention, the rear wheel being shown in outline only. Fig. 2 is a top plan view, and Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, of the same with the wheels shown in full lines.

Like letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts In the drawings, A indicates the boiler, B B the main drivewheels, and C the main Serial N0. 357,240. (No model.)

axle, on which the rear end of the boiler is supported, as shown in my prior patent, or in any preferred manner, as the same forms no part of my present invention. Securely riveted or otherwise suitably attached to the rear end of the boiler or the supporting extensions thereof are the side plates or forward extensions (Z of the tank D, which latter extends outward beyond the periphery of the drivewheels, as shown, and in the preferred construction has its lower plate or bottom inclined upward toward the rear, so as to be above any curbstones or low obstructions, and the top or top plate (Z is made substantially level and is arranged at a convenient height to form the platform upon which the engineer stands to control the machine by means of levers, hand-wheels, &c., mounted on the boiler.

The door for the fire-box in the boiler is of course in the rear end of the same, and to give access thereto the front end of the tank is inclined outward at the top; but the bottom is brought comparatively near the boiler, giving a greater tank capacity without interfering at all with the firing operation or the re moval of the ashes, the latter being removed through a suitable door in the front of the ash-pit, as indicated in Fig. 1.

At the rear end of thetank, preferably in rear of the drive-wheels, are located the fuelboxes E E, projecting some distance beyond the edges of the tank, but not far enough to obstruct the view of the engineer, nor far enough to strike the steel picks in the wheels under any conditions, or trees or other obstructions, in making short turns. To still further increase the effect in this direction, the tanks are made semicircular or semiecylindrical, as shown. Thus there is no projecting corner to interrupt the view of the engineer or to hit obstructions, as would be the case if the boxes were square.

The tanks E E are preferably supported in place by brackets c c, secured to the sides of the tank and having formed on them supports or bearings f for the scraper-shaft F, which is held in place by a set-screw f. At the upper rear end of the tank is formed the fillingopening closed by a lid or cover g, which at fords a convenient step upon which the en gineercan mount to his place. Below the fillin g-openingand extending across'the rear end of the same is a channel-iron H, in which are formed or to which are attached the couplingheads I, one at each side of the tank and the other at the center, as will be readily understood. These "coupling-heads form-a lower step for the engineer, who, it will now be seen, can mount easilyto the passage-way'between the fuel-boxes and step forward 'to the position occupied While driving the machine, ample space beingleft for him to move about and inspect the Work being done without leaving his position.

In the bottom of the fuel-boxesl preferably form .t'ool boxes and provide doors T at each side, openingin'to the -same,and:I'also form a manholeK in the'side of'the tank of any ordina'ry: or preferred: construction.

.Having thus described;myiinvention, what I claim new is- 1.'ln'a tractiomengine or road-roller, the combinatiom with the boiler and drive-wheels at therearend of :the same, ot the tank located between the drive wheelsand rigidly connectedto the rearend of the 'boiler,'leaving-a space between the front end of thetank and said boiler, substantially as described.

:2. .In:a traction-engine or road-roller, the combination, with'the boiler, of'the tank securedrigidly thereto'in rear of the same'and having its forward endinclined outwardly at the top,'whereby access may-be had to'the fire-box, substantially as described.

'3. Ina traction-engine or road-roller, the combination, with :the boiler having rearwardlyeextending:plates,themain axle passing through said. plates, and the d rive-wheels, of the .ta'nklocated between the drive-wheels and secured rigidlyto said rearwardly-extending plates, having'its bottom or lower plate inclined upward toward the rear, substantiallyas described.

of the-rearend of the tank above the level of 'the same and'leaving a central passage-way,

substantially as described.

.5. In atraction-engine or road-roller, the combination, with the boiler, of the tank secured rigidly thereto in rear of the same and extending beyond the drive-Wheels, the semicircular fuel-boxesmountedon the tank at the rear end and'leavin g a ceutralxpassageway, the brackets on the tanks for holding said boxes in :place, and the -.filling-orifice, substantially asdescribed.

'6. In a road-roller, the combination, with the boiler having the tank secured :rigidly theretoin'rearof the same to :fornrthe engineers platform, of the channel-iron secured across the rear end of thetank'and the coupling-heads on said channel-iron,substantially as described.

7. In a traction-engineer"road-roller, the combination, with-theboiler, of the'tank'secured rigidly thereto'in 'rear of the same and extending beyond the drive-wheels,the semicircular fuel-boxes mounted on ;the' tank at the rear on 'each side, and the tool-boxes formed in thebottom of said fuel-boXes,'with the door opening tothe exterior, substantially as described.

, MARTIN HERSHEY.

Witnesses:

BEVERLY WV. GLovER,

EUGENE SNYDER. 

